


The Time Rex Went to Luke

by ilyena_sylph, Merfilly



Series: Abandoned Concepts [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebellion Era - All Media Types
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Background Relationships, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-15
Updated: 2016-11-15
Packaged: 2018-08-31 04:54:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8564830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilyena_sylph/pseuds/ilyena_sylph, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: After several clones in the Rebellion get to know Luke, they send for their senior-most officer, because if anyone can take care of a Skywalker, it would be Captain Rex.





	

**Author's Note:**

> First in a series of fic ideas that were explored but left incomplete. This one was inspired by a few different posts seen on tumblr, about clones trying to take care of Luke Skywalker when they learn of him.
> 
> Accidental incestuous thoughts/possible actions implied, because Luke and Leia. Set not long after the Battle of Yavin.

Rex had been moving around more than usual, pretty much ever since the _Ghost_ had headed for Wild Space, and he had done his damnedest to make Command forget they had a veteran clone captain on payroll. He preferred to hit hard, working out his aggressions. The longer he kept doing this, the more he was aware of the fact he was no longer aging, the harder it was to cope with all the losses.

Move teams, change locales, do anything and everything to keep from falling into self-pity. That was his way. He avoided his brothers, the ones living in the Rebellion, mostly… mostly saved from the Empire by various circumstances that started with _her_ fingerprints on them.

His chest still ached when he touched the tooth he wore there. Four years on, and it felt like yesterday.

"Sergeant!" 

Rex turned his head, looking at the other non-com, a communications tech, trying to get his attention.

"Pulse message tagged for you," the woman said, handing over a printout of the pulse code, one his fingers and eyes could read easily enough.

[New _jetii_ found. Young. Must teach. Need aid.] There was a break, then a very distinctive code for a name. [Skywalker. Advise.] The pulse code was tagged with Sparrow's personal designation code, which made sense; the medic would be able to track him down just based off blood-typing and chromosome match.

What? _What?_

How could -- a _Skywalker_? If that was true, then of course the child would be _jetii_... not that there were any left to teach them. Also, 'how' didn't really matter. The fact of it was, Sparrow wouldn't say it without being sure, and... none of the ones they had managed to free and save had had padawan-Commanders, would have seen the lessons between a Master and an apprentice. 

No wonder they'd worked hard enough to actually track him down. He looked at the comm tech, knew he was going to hate the answer, and asked, "So where'd it originate?" 

That, of course, wasn't on the printout.

"Command, actually." The comm tech shook her head. "Are we losing you, Sergeant? There's a transport taking supplies there in about three hours." It wasn't unknown for Command to snatch the best soldiers away, and even with the win at the Death Star, the Rebel Alliance had been hard-pressed to capitalize on it.

Rex eyed the printout narrowly, cursed to himself at the idea of being right back in with Command... and knew he was going. "Yeah," he replied. "Pulse back that I'm inbound, while I go make that official." 

A Skywalker. _Damn_. 

"Will do, Sergeant." She left him to go handle his side of things, while she handled the comms. 

Was it a publicity stunt, on the name? No, Sparrow wouldn't have made that kind of mistake; he would have looked for records and matches. Somehow. But how, when…

...no, he wasn't thinking on his General's fate. He couldn't. Right now, he needed to let his commanding officer know he was breaking off for Command, and then get his gear together. That transport wasn't going to wait for him.

+++

Sparrow had taken the message that the Captain was on his way. Granted, by the medical records he had traced, said Captain had been slumming on his rank for at least three years now. The name on his records wasn't right either, but who knew why a command clone did anything? Especially a decorated one like _him_.

He'd been a legend before Sparrow had ever left Kamino. When he'd finally met the Captain, he'd still been a little shell-shocked, because of what had happened, how he had felt compelled to fight should a Jedi ever cross his path, but the Captain's friends had fixed that.

He had even, once, glimpsed the woman they all said had been a _jetii_ , before the Purge. She had been the _jetii_ apprentice, and that, more than anything, was why Sparrow had scrambled to try and find the Captain. If anyone knew how to handle a young jetii, surely it was him.

So it was that he was waiting when the transport came in.

Rex had his gear slung as he came off, and didn't do as he usually would (namely, lend a hand with the offloading) because he did have a particular purpose here. He stepped onto the decking of the bay, took a few strides, and -- there was Sparrow. He didn't look quite as old as Rex knew he did, but then, Sparrow'd gotten a different fix, and younger. He walked that way casually, and stopped close by. 

"So what the hell time is it here?" he asked, wryly amused. 

"Mid-morning, sir," Sparrow said, trying not to blink too much at how unchanged the Captain was. Maybe it was a side-effect of living close to Force users? "I appreciate you coming. If anyone knows how to help, it's you, right?"

"Well, let's hope so," Rex replied, shrugging one shoulder slightly. Morning... grand. Well, at least his internal clock was only on midday, it wouldn't be that hard to adjust. He'd seen his General and Commander at work, after all, could still half-hear some of the lessons if he thought about it hard enough -- which he'd been doing, most of the trip in -- but... without having the Force, he had no idea how much he could actually do. 

"What's the kid like?" he asked, sincerely curious. 

Sparrow lit up like the sun. "He's wonderful, Captain. He's nice and sincere, and he listens to all of us and he's a hell of a pilot according to Knocker, but then he'd have to be. Given he's the one that took down the Death Star." The medic blushed a little. "Sorry, not the best brief, but he's just got this intense air of friendship all around him, and we just can't help but want to keep him safe!

"Granted, finding out he'd actually known General Kenobi hit a few of us pretty hard," Sparrow told Rex. "That's when we decided he really needed to hear the stories, and that we needed to find you."

"He -- he what?" Rex asked, frozen in his tracks by those words. A kid, a kid of his General's, that had -- 

General Kenobi had _survived_? 

He'd never -- Ahsoka had never -- 

He'd been saying Kenobi's name for the better part of _twenty years_ and he hadn't been dead?! 

Sparrow nodded. "Sorry, Captain. You served with him directly, didn't you?" the medic asked, apologetically. "Skywalker said Vader killed him, on that monstrosity, before they could escape." He let his sympathy flow into the words. "It's why he has no teacher now."

One moment of exposing far too much was two more than Rex was willing to put up with, and this time he managed to keep his expression and his body to a mostly-neutral agreement. "I did," he agreed, while in the back of his mind he wanted to do nothing but scream. 

He knew damned well who Vader was, and the idea that he'd lost any chance to see General Kenobi again, too (like he'd lost her), because of -- because of him, that he was really gone past any hope... 

Stars and Force alike, let them get into a real fight soon, so he had something to take _this_ out on. That General Kenobi had died with this boy, more likely than not defending him... that only deepened his misery and his fury. "Also, don't worry about it. Entire lifetime ago, right?" 

He couldn't be around a _jetii_ , even a young one, until he could wrangle his emotions back into obeying his control and the defenses he'd learned. Which meant he probably ought to work fast on that. 

"Skywalker, he's in thick with Command, both as the hero of Yavin IV and just because he is one of the Princess's pets. Him and the smugglers that came in with them," Sparrow said, continuing to talk so that the Captain could get the full picture. "He's got the astromech that used to be on the flagship for Alderaan, and the protocol droid is usually with the Princess, so it's pretty obvious there's a connection.

"Even if Skywalker kind of blushes and turns conversation elsewhere if anyone teases him about her or the human smuggler, Solo."

Astromech that used to -- with a protocol droid? Rex was really, incredibly tired of having his breath lock up in his throat like this. There was no way the circle could be that tiny, he was imagining things, he had to be, and he made a wry noise. "...blushes? And you're _sure_ he's actually...?" 

Sparrow nodded. "Managed to get access to some old GAR records, cross-matched it myself. Amazing what Senator Mothma made off with out of the old records, actually." She was more than willing to accept him on his word, for the sake of the Alliance, but more conservative minds had to be reassured.

"We just… don't know what to do other than tell him stories, but then Knocker got to worrying he'd try to do things in those stories, and not do them right and then… then … well, sir, we _can't_ be responsible for getting a _jetii_ killed," the medic said desperately.

"Shh, _vod_ ," Rex murmured, very softly, then said, a little louder, "of course not. None of us ever wanted that. I'll do what I can. And Knocker probably had a point. You did right, tracking me down again." 

"Good." Sparrow rubbed his thumb along his fingers on his left hand. "Come on; I can get you settled into a room, and then show you the layout. Sound good, Captain?"

"Suits me," Rex agreed. And with any luck, he'd get a little while to get his head back on straight before he had to deal with -- hell, even figure out how to approach -- the boy. 

+++

Luke was working on his X-Wing, just back from a recon mission with Wes as his wingman. It had gone easy enough, but he and Artoo were both certain there was a harmonic in the left lower thruster that should be adjusted before they had to go back out. 

"No, Artoo, I think we need to get it tuned up, not down," Luke said, peering at the diagnostic scan. "See, right here... " he added, pointing at the graph to show the oscillation he was concerned with.

Rex had been pointed in the right direction -- and he was grateful for the chaos of a Rebellion hangar bay, because he could actually find a place to watch without being noticed in return. It was the droid that made him go still first, because he knew that particular shape, the way the colors were inlaid onto him, even the beeps he could pick up were the exact pitches he knew. Pitches he'd been relieved to hear so many times... But he'd never heard of a droid escaping memory wipes for decades, especially without someone to defend him the way _his_ General would have. Had. 

Probably just another stranger now, like so many of his brothers had been made into. He stopped paying attention to the droid, and watched the young man working on an X-Wing with him. The hair was pale, he barely had even General Kenobi's height, but the way he moved, the competence and confidence he had, discussing the repairs he wanted to make to his ship, even the interaction with Artoo... those were all so much like his General that it felt like a punch to the chest. 

He'd used all those old shielding lessons, though, so hopefully he hadn't drawn the young man -- Luke, his name was Luke -- 's attention. Yet. That -- well, he'd wait until Luke was back down off the X-Wing, then go say 'hi'. 

Maybe by then he'd have his heart out of his throat. 

"Yeah, that should work," Luke told Artoo, once they had hammered it out, using the translation program on the data pad to be certain. "You get started disassembling it, and I'll go find the parts we need, alright buddy?" He moved to come down the ladder when Artoo beeped assent at him.

Was that modesty or just that he didn't know how to land a jump, Rex wondered, watching Luke climb down and head at a quick, easy jog for the parts bay. The first was probably a good idea, the second... _that_ was worrying. 

But then again, that the boy was really more a grown man than a boy and from everything his brothers had told him, knew almost nothing, was _really_ worrying. What in the names of all the hells had happened with this kid? And how was he supposed to fix it? 

Having that ship not ready to launch because he'd distracted Luke wasn't an option, not for him, so he waited for Luke to get back near the ship, then headed for it, lifting two fingers in a wave. 

Luke gave an easy, warm smile, even as his eyes picked out the similarities between this man, behind his beard and mustache, and his extended family he'd picked up in Knocker and Sparrow and all of them. This one looked older, somehow.

"Hello? I don't think we've met yet. You're a friend of Knocker's?"

That -- that wasn't his General at all, not with a stranger. He'd seen a smile like that on his General's face, but only with the people he was closest to, and mostly with Artoo. Or the Senator, another one of the deaths he'd been too far away from everything to do _anything_ about. And far more than his General, that instant, open welcome was like _Ahsoka_. "Yeah, you could say that. I'm Rex." 

He'd seen the sway of a lightsaber at Luke's hip as he jogged, still a familiar sight for him (if only because he'd spent so long in his memories) but this close... Something about that lightsaber was _too_ familiar, but there was still a ship to put back together. He forced his eyes away, back up. "Want a hand? They haven't decided what to do with me now that I'm back, yet." 

Luke's answer was forestalled as Artoo's dome swiveled from the droid cupola, and there was a single beep of shock before the astromech switched binary dialects.

[Captain? Pilot's Captain?!] Artoo demanded in the binary the clones had used during the war.

Rex's jaw fell open for a moment, staring up at the astromech in complete shock, before he nodded once, sharp move, and fell back into Mando'a to answer that demand. ["Yeah, it's me, and -- Artoo, _wait a second_ \-- he's safe from me, kriff it! He's safe!"]

[Take care of my new pilot?] Artoo asked, even as he strained to find a way around his memory locks to actually talk to them both about relevant issues. He trusted Rex; he had seen the man once on the _Tantive IV_ in a holo, while Snips had been there, planning with the Senator. If Snips had trusted him, it was okay.

Luke listened to his astromech and this man with the same face as his other friends talk in a way he couldn't follow. The translator on his pad had given him an error for the beeps and whistles. 

["...that's what I'm here for,"] Rex agreed, still in Mando'a, his eyes narrowing as he considered. Artoo _knew_ , knew him, remembered... but Luke didn't know anything? Why would -- oh, _kriff_. ["Somebody locked your memories, didn't they? They couldn't beat what the General did for you, so they locked you."] 

[Jedi and Senator, double lock. No Republic officers. The Jedi didn't unlock me when I completed my mission,] Artoo agreed. [Threepio…] There was a sad sound that carried a note of tragedy, and Luke found himself scrambling up the ladder to get a hand on the droid in sympathy.

"Easy, Artoo. You know him, obviously, but easy… it's okay."

Rex, watching that, watching the instantly protective empathy and care, felt something in his chest melt as much as something else tightened like a vise. That was his General all over, not giving a damn what anyone else might think when one of the people he loved (human, droid, Togruta, other) was in any kind of pain. He dropped back into Basic, for the boy's sake, and said softly, "I'm so sorry, Artoo. I can't fix that -- but the other, I'll try and figure out. This isn't fair to you.

"And yeah, s -- Luke. Artoo knows me pretty damned well. I didn't think he still would... should have known better." 

Luke looked at Artoo, who chirped happily, and then nodded. "If you're a friend of Artoo's, you've got to be a pretty great guy. This little fella is the best." He gave Artoo one more pat, then scrambled down to start the work that needed to be done. "Lend me a hand? Just need stuff passed to me while Artoo and I fix this converter modulator. Then maybe we can get some food."

"No problem," Rex agreed, and moved to do just that. He could try and dig up ancient conversations about Artoo's security protocols while he handed parts up to his General's son. 

+++

Luke had food for thought as Rex and he walked toward the commissary, having felt like he'd glimpsed enough of this man to understand a few things… but it left him in the dark on others. There was a difference between Rex and the other men he called friends, that had that face. The age went more than skin deep; Rex carried a heavier weight in his bearing and experiences.

Artoo's reactions to the man, and the occasional drops into a different binary code, implied a long history. But Artoo trusted him, and the man had apologized directly to Artoo. Very few people treated droids with respect like that.

Rex had come looking for him, and that added a layer to it all, one that had Luke hoping for answers to questions he barely knew how to ask.

It was oddly easy for Rex to walk alongside this young man, with Artoo rolling between them, and occasionally let his hand drop to the sleek dome. Artoo had pushed up into the touch the first time, lifting on his leg stabilizers, and that was enough for him. He could see, in the line of Luke's jaw and the distance in his eyes, that the boy was thinking hard, but not speaking yet. 

That lasted through them gathering a pair of plates and -- more on Rex's lead than Luke's intent -- the quietest corner of the commissary, away from the knots of other people. 

"How do you know Artoo?" Luke asked. "You knew the Jedi like Knocker and Sept and the rest of them didn't you? Did they ask you to come here?" he asked, everything bubbling up to the gates, and slipping out without much in the way of censoring.

"That's a long story -- though one I don't mind telling you -- yes, and yes," Rex answered, watching the bright sparkle in the boy's eyes as much as he listened to the waterfall of words. That was, once again, so much more like Ahsoka than his General that it ached. She'd never even known... and yet, somehow, there was a reflection of her here. 

Luke tipped his head. "I think… something about me makes you sad. Did you know my father? Is that why? Ben said he was a Jedi, but Garvin Dreis died over Yavin IV, and no one else has really been able to talk with me about him," Luke said, voice sad at that. "I never knew he was a Jedi; I had been told he worked on a freighter."

"Someone told you **what?!** " Rex demanded, though years of practice kept it to a very quiet projection of his opinions on _that_ \-- before his brain kicked in and reminded him that civilian children didn't learn OpSec with their alphabets, and how terribly dangerous it would have been for his General's son. "No... no, never mind me, that makes sense. Yes, I knew your father. Knew him, I think, better than most." 

Luke's eyes went wide and eager, as he focused so completely on Rex. The attention was sharp, intense, so much like Anakin once he had a reason to pay it. "I want to know more about him. Ben didn't get to tell me much, not before… before he died." He said it with a palpable ache in his voice.

"Ben?" Rex asked, cocking his head, the name unfamiliar. That focus -- oh, that he knew to his bones, and at least he also could answer it. Having a reason to do more than say his General's name at night... that, he was happy with. 

"Sorry, Old Ben Kenobi… Obi-Wan Kenobi," Luke told him. "He was just the crazy old hermit, out in the Juntland Wastes, and then Artoo got me involved in his secret mission to go find Kenobi. Turned my life upside down… and I felt this real connection with Ben."

General Kenobi, a crazy old hermit? Rex couldn't picture that, at all. General Kenobi was elegance and grace and coolly commanding reserve, eyes as sharp as his lightsaber and a presence that could make itself known through half a Destroyer. "General Kenobi," he said, soft, shaking his head. "He really _did_ survive." 

The Juntland Wastes... he knew that term, he was sure of it, but he couldn't -- memory came back to him, his General snarling over the mission with the Hutt. "...Tatooine? Someone put you on _Tatooine_?" 

Luke nodded. "I grew up with my uncle and aunt," he said, pain lancing out of him, showing on that expressive face. "The Empire… they killed them, tracking Artoo and Threepio. After that, I didn't have anything else, and let Ben lead me. We wound up on the _Millennium Falcon_ , and got caught up in everything around the Death Star."

Rex's mouth tightened, and beside him Artoo warbled a moment's distress of his own. An uncle, an aunt... the General had never mentioned family. But then, if you breathed the word 'Tatooine' around his General, he locked up tighter than a tractor-beam at point-blank range. 

"Heard a few versions of all that," Rex said, shaking his head slightly. " _Tatooine_. But then, it's so far out, and there were almost no solid data links with the Core, as far as census data or the like." And that monster his General had been warped into would have no wish to go there. 

It would have been a good place to hide his General's son, to hide a living _jetii_. And that comment about an aunt and uncle did a lot to explain why Luke seemed to know almost nothing of how to use the Force. "You said you felt a connection with General Kenobi... that makes sense to me, fiercely as he loved your father." 

Luke smiled brightly. "I got that impression," he told Rex. "Was my father really as good a pilot as they said? What kind of man was he?"

"He was a better pilot than anyone could tell you," Rex replied instantly to that first question, before the second tightened a vise around his chest again. "Incredible." he replied to it, once he could catch a breath, trying to distill the Jedi General Anakin Skywalker down into one single word, and knowing he'd failed at it a bare breath later. "You're what... nineteen and some?" 

"Almost twenty, yes," Luke said. "I'd been trying to get off Tatooine, submit my packet to the Academy, like Biggs had. But my uncle needed me," he said, quickly, to cover for his chagrin to be so old and only just now getting involved. Leia had been doing this for so long after all.

"Oh, _Force save us_ , thank **kriff** you didn't!" Rex replied, terror surging up in his chest at the thought of what Imperial notice of a Skywalker from Tatooine would have meant for this bright, warm, open boy. "...the same age your father was when I met him, then. Maybe a couple months older, but not more than that." 

Luke tipped his head, curious at the first, then he opened his eyes even wider. "So you were part of the Clone Wars too, like Ben, and he said my dad was?"

This boy was far, far too damned innocent. Too innocent, and too uneducated, if he could know a squad's worth of them and have not figured it out. Rex shook his head slightly, one corner of his mouth turning up. "You could say that. 

"What do you know about the Clone Wars, son?" 

"Nothing." Luke was honest about that. "Tatooine is not really big on education. Leia's trying to find time to fix that, but… she's the Rebellion's heart."

Rex nodded slightly, pleased with the honest admission of what he didn't know, and his willingness to admit to the Princess' place in things. Neither of those, though, changed his wish to wrap this boy up in ray shields and stay as close to him as he could, because he'd watched innocence like that be destroyed once, and didn't want to see it happen again. 

Hell of it was, it seemed like he was going to have to be the one to do just that, to teach him. "That makes a lot of sense. I never actually landed on that sandpit, but I heard a few things about it. More concerned with surviving than anything else -- which I can't blame anyone for. And yeah, the Princess would be busy. 

"Lucky enough, I'm not. And since you can't understand your father without understanding the War, I'll have to catch you up." 

"I'm happy to listen to you, Rex," Luke said, eager and bright. "Anything to help me know where I really came from, about my father, and to maybe help me be a better leader to my squadron. Because they keep insisting on sliding me into the command slot, and I really… I'm just a bush pilot."

That modesty might be the most surprising thing about this boy being related to his General. There were entire ten-days where Anakin Skywalker hadn't known what modesty _was_... and he'd generally been justified, to be fair. "The old Republic... it could be a complete mess, and a lot of things were done that never should have been. But it was at least democratic, where all the systems -- theoretically -- had a voice. 

"That wasn't good enough for some systems, rulers that thought they'd been slighted somehow, trading conglomerates that felt stifled... you name it, it was probably a factor in the build towards the kriffing Seppie -- sorry, 'Confederacy of Independent Systems'," he knew his voice bit with sarcastic faux-respect as vicious as General Kenobi's had ever been, "movement." 

Luke applied himself to his food, and listened intently, trying to learn as best he could, because this was important. He had understood Mon Mothma telling him that history was the foundation of their movement, but she hadn't been able to expand on it.

He wanted to understand who his father had been, and more, he wanted to know the real reason he'd been lied to all his life.

+++

Luke had a lot to think over, and of course he'd gotten a scramble order nearly on the heels of Rex briefing him. He was in his X-Wing with Artoo on instinct alone, showing Rex that the boy was every bit the fighter his father had been at a very base level.

He saw the Princess personally flag the squadron into the air, and bit back the memory of Ezra. The kid had met her once, he remembered Kanan saying.

It would take a while for the squadron to get to the distress call and back again, leaving Rex time to ponder what he had gotten into.

Which was going to be a whole lot of trying to educate a more than half lost in the galaxy, grieving, ridiculously talented youngling (despite being a full adult, that boy was a youngling yet) about everything he'd tried to bury. 

And... Force help him, at some point actually talking to Senator Mon Mothma to try and get her to unlock Artoo. 

+++

Luke had taken the time to scrub the adrenaline stink off before going seeking Rex. They really hadn't gotten into much about Anakin Skywalker, but he had the fundamentals of the war in his head. Those were making him wonder a little about the Jedi Order and the Republic and other things, but now… he wanted to know about his dad.

Without even thinking it through, he found Rex, following a base instinct that drew him to that tired, pained presence.

Rex turned at the familiar near-silent step and the long-absent half-brush over his awareness and smiled a welcome at the youngling. "Glad to see you back safe, Luke," he said, stretching out a hand to clasp his forearm. 

Luke gripped it tight and took a seat near Rex. "It was interesting, but the Empire force was small enough to handle," he said. "Got the freighter on its way safely."

"Good," Rex nodded, glad to see that there wasn't grief in his eyes. "Glad to hear it. You look like you have a million questions... which one first?" 

"Tell me what my father was like when he was leading people?" Luke asked, earnest and hungry to know how he compared. What could he do to live up to his legacy?

"There was nobody better," Rex replied, though he could think of a half-dozen of his once-brothers who would argue. Everyone that had a good _jetii_ would have. "He was always the first one into any engagement, the one in the forefront or wherever the fighting was worst, leading from there, protecting us as best he could. Brazen, some people would say too much so, but we loved him, so much, for it. 

"Just his being on the field was enough to push an entire legion to do more, push harder -- because he was with us." 

"Really? I don't know if I will ever be that good, then," Luke said, completely clueless to things Rex was already hearing about him.

Rex shook his head, smiling slightly as he looked at him. Luke was already being considered a leader, and a good man to fly behind. "Think you might be wrong about that, sir. Though this is a real different kind of war than mine was. Also, my General had been training for ten years when the war broke out, even if for different things _than_ war. Cut yourself a little slack. You're completely new to it." 

"Thanks, Rex. That's encouraging, coming from a veteran like you," Luke said, trusting everything that Rex had told him strictly at his word.

Rex dipped his head slightly, his mouth quirking a little. "You're welcome. He was... All right, alright, when I first got him, after he was recovered, Knighted, and given his own command... I thought at first that it was going to be a disaster. I mean, he was as young as any of us, and while we might've been made for the Jedi, they hadn't been taught or even told about us. And he had a temper about the Seps that I was sure was going to wind up with most of us dead. 

"I was wrong. He learned so fast, and from the first engagement, I saw that he would do almost anything to protect us. He didn't see us as a resource, as products... to my General, we were _people_." 

"Of course you are," Luke said firmly. "I know you explained about cloning, but you're a person. So are your brothers. The men who have been watching out for me."

Rex smiled at him, slow and affectionate. "We were trained all of our lives that we weren't, Luke. That we existed as a resource, not to be individuals. It was our Generals, our Jedi -- well, the good ones, anyway, the ones we'd call _jetii_ \-- that refused to accept that. And he was one of _the_ most adamant. He learned our names as fast as we chose them, and never mistook one brother for another." 

They'd loved him for that, as much as for his leadership. 

"Why did some choose numbers, then, if there was a push to be people?" Luke asked, on a tangent thought. "Or is it a matter of choosing to reclaim what marked them as clones, and make it bigger?" he reasoned, unaware of how close to home that would hit, given Fives and the history there.

Rex studied the boy's face, the open wish to understand, and missed Fives so desperately that it hurt all over again. "Some of the brothers... their numbers, or parts of them, just meant more to them than any word they thought of," he answered quietly. "Taking just a piece of it... was what they wanted." 

"That makes sense, then." Luke nodded as he locked that down as part of understanding his friends. "You miss someone like that?" He was trying listen to his feelings… and that meant expressing a lot of questions.

"You're very perceptive," Rex told him, as he nodded. "His name was Fives. CT-5555, to give his designation. He was one of two survivors from his batch, and I folded both of them into the 501st. He was _so_ kriffing shiney, but there was something... he had -- " ' _mandokar_ ', the word sat at the tip of his tongue, but this boy wouldn't understand it. " -- I heard someone put it in Basic as 'the right stuff', and I guess that comes close. 

"He was the bravest, stubbornest, most reckless damned-fool idiot _vod_ I ever had the pleasure of kicking the _shebs_ of until he stopped being shiney and started being what I knew he could be. ...and the Emperor -- the Chancellor then -- murdered him so that what he knew, the warning he tried to give us, would die with him." 

Luke flinched, and then reached out, laying both of his hands on Rex's forearms. "I'm sorry," he said, with all of his serious, earnest empathy for the situation, for the loss. "Sounds like he was your protegé?"

"Yeah," Rex agreed quietly, "he was." That instant sympathy, the grief for his sake and for the friend he'd lost -- that _did_ remind him of his General. 

The way he'd ensured he was at as many cremations as they could manage, the compassion he'd had for shattered batches... there was a lot of his General there, but there was also the Senator, in all of her profound compassion. "My protegé, and a friend. Irreverent _brat_ \-- one of the few others brave enough to sass your father, no matter how bad things were, actually.

"Not that Skywalker ever stood on ceremony, or thought that he was any better than any of us. He was just... very intense." 

"He was?" Luke frowned, then thought about his uncle, and shrugged. "I guess I can see that he might have been. If he was anything like my uncle."

"Can't speak to that -- you could pull teeth from a rancor without a sedative easier than you could get the General to talk about his past," Rex said, "but... he took every loss in the 501st -- or the 212th, General Kenobi's legion -- personally. More than just the burden of command. 

"He was a brilliant strategist, he could just look at a display and know... but more than that, he was brilliant in the field when everything went to complete _poodoo_ and he had to improvise. Sometimes I wanted to strangle him for the risks he took with himself, but he always found a way through for us." 

Luke wound up propping his chin on his hands, arms up. "My dad sounds like a pretty decent leader then. It makes a little more sense why Garven Dreis was willing to take a chance on me in his squadron."

"That's right," Rex said, "you mentioned him before. That... that was one nasty aerial campaign, on his planet. Kriffing vulture droids. Makes sense that he'd want you with him. He's the one that actually saddled your dad with that nickname the whole Republic used for him, 'the Hero with No Fear'." Rex rolled his eyes. 

Luke shook his head. "No, you can't lead without being afraid," he told Rex. "Makes for good PR, though, I guess." 

"You know that, and I know that," Rex agreed, "but the general public adored him, adored the image. 

"I guess it didn't hurt that he was stunningly beautiful, incredibly charismatic, and wore his heart on his sleeve, unlike almost every other Jedi." 

Luke ducked his head a little. "The more you say about him, the more I wonder where I really came from, because… that's not me. Except maybe that last. Can't stand seeing others hurt."

"I don't wonder," Rex replied, "not least of which because I've seen that look on his face a dozen times. He took praise from anyone else... so poorly. 

"Funny, with as self-assured as he was, as confident... but that was my General. Bunch of contradictions." 

"Huh." Luke considered all of that, then shook his head. "I wish I could have known him," he said softly.

"I wish you could have, too," Rex agreed. "My General, a _buir_ \-- a parent -- that... that would have been something to see. He'd have been even more ridiculous about you than he could be about our Commander, which... is saying something." 

"Oh? Your Commander? Who was he?" Luke asked, very curious now.

Rex _laughed_ \-- and that felt startlingly good. "Not he. She." He swallowed, facing the idea of having to say her name. "Jedi Padawan -- until the kriffing idiots on the Council _threw her away_ \-- and GAR Commander... Ahsoka Tano. Your father's student." 

Luke stared at him, then blinked. "He had a student… of his own? Was this when Ben had Vader as his student?" Luke asked.

"He did," Rex replied, his mouth curving in a slow smile as he managed not to react to the rest of that -- command, OpSec, and ARC training had to be good for _something_ , after all. What in the names of the stars had Kenobi told this boy?! "...Vader, I never met." Which was as true as he felt like saying. "My -- my Commander, though... she was something. I thought she was years too young to be in the field, when she first wound up with us, but we were so lucky to have her." 

Luke closed his eyes, then nodded at what he felt there. "Was my father proud of her, like you seem to be?"

"Oh yes. She could make him completely crazy at times -- reckless, impulsive, innovative -- but he was proud of her," Rex replied with a quick smile. "She actually gave him a nickname. He tagged her with one right back, and then the two of them basically used them for callsigns!" 

"Yeah? What did they call each other? And what happened? Did you lose her when Vader killed the Jedi?" Luke asked, shifting to lay his hands on Rex's arms again.

Rex shook his head, breathing slow and steady, holding on to his control with both fists. "The day she came to us, the General was protesting keeping her, and she said 'You're stuck with me, Skyguy'." He shook his head, still -- after everything -- unable to do anything but smile at that memory. "He stared at her for a second, told her not to get snippy with him, and the next thing any of us heard, he was calling her Snips.

"As to what happened... no. She -- one of the other Jedi that Fell framed her for treason, and the _idiots_ in the Order and Senate actually bought it enough that they threw her to a military tribunal. General Skywalker and your mother were about the -- " 

"My mother?" Luke sat bolt upright. "You knew my mother too? Who is she?" he asked. "My uncle never mentioned her, and my aunt just said she was the most beautiful woman she ever met."

Well, _hell_. He hadn't actually meant to say that that way (or had he, to distract both of them from the question about Vader that he's still having so much trouble with?), but... now he was in it, and might as well. "There was only one woman in the galaxy for your father," he replied, "so yeah, I know who your mother was, Luke. 

"I'm sorry."

Luke swallowed hard. "She's dead." He sucked in a breath. "I guess that works better than thinking she gave me away."

"Never," Rex replied, shaking his head hard, as he changed their positioning so that he had hold of Luke instead, the boy's grief so instant and obvious that he couldn't help but respond, "there's no way she would ever have just... given you up." 

He squeezed the boy's forearms gently, reassuringly. "We didn't officially 'know' about her and the General, it would have been a horrific scandal -- kriffing stupid politics -- but it was impossible not to know. The way he was, any time she was around, the way they said each other's names... they were madly in love. So we kept their secret as best we could. 

"Your mother... was Senator Padmé Amidala -- Naberrie, I think, was her family name -- of Naboo." 

"A Senator… I wonder what Leia can tell me? She knows history, and might be able to get Mothma to talk a little," Luke said, trying to find a silver-lining. "I know her name now. That's new." He smiled at Rex.

"Senator Mon Mothma and Senator Amidala were close allies," Rex said, "she should be able to tell you quite a bit. 

"I have no idea how they hid you, who got you away -- though my guess is starting to be on General Kenobi -- but when your mother's funeral was broadcast, it looked as though she was still pregnant. That was her ladies, has to have been... and probably the only reason you were ever safe." 

"I don't even pretend to understand why so much had to happen to keep me safe. I'm nobody special," Luke told him, not truly grasping the relevance either of his parents had… especially as he didn't have the full truth of his father.

Rex shook his head, wishing he had hair at the top of his head to push his fingers through, not that he'd ever worn it that long in his life. "You're _Anakin Skywalker_ 's son, Luke. The child of the most powerful Jedi in a dozen generations, and that's if I'm being generous to the past. 

"What that kriffing _monster_ sitting on Coruscant could have done with you, if he'd had any idea you were alive... it doesn't bear thinking on, sir." 

Luke blinked, tipping his head to the side, before shaking it a little. "I don't think I really understand because I don't fully see how the Jedi fit into things outside of being fighters with extra tricks? I've listened to Knocker and the others, and it would be nice to have a few more who can do things like that… or for me to figure out more of how to do it… but… I don't have context. That's how Leia would say it."

"You know what you don't know," Rex said, appraising and approving, "that's a rare gift. It's not -- a lot of what I've told you so far is about the fighting, because that's how we knew them best, but that's not what the Jedi _were_. I might not understand a lot of it, not having the Force myself, but... they were channels for it, and could do... incredible things. Fighting was really the least of it. 

"Your father saw the future, sometimes. He could hear thoughts, know his opponents' fears, from half a battlefield away, let alone in close proximity. He was an incredibly powerful telekinetic, but that's still not... damn, I keep coming back to what they could do, not.. not what they were." 

"It's okay. You see the world in physical terms." Luke smiled a little at that. "I do too. It might be why I am missing the subtleties. When they look at me in Command and whisper things like hope and last Jedi… I just feel uncomfortable. When they tell me to take a squadron out and do something… then I understand better."

Rex smiled a little, reaching to lay his fingers on Luke's hand. "Yeah, that makes sense. I'm better with the physical than the rest of it, certainly ...what did General Kenobi get to tell you about the Force?" 

"It's the energy that connects and penetrates all life, tying it together. Some people, who can be Jedi, are able to manipulate it, and use it to aid their senses," Luke answered. "It's how I knew when to fire my torpedoes at the Death Star battle. And can sometimes tell other little things."

Rex nodded agreement with that -- true, as far as it went. "More than little things, when you learn to connect with it," he told Luke, before he returned to thinking about how to get across what the Jedi had been at their best, what it meant to be a servant of the Force. "It seemed as though every Jedi had a slightly different perspective on the Force, but one thing that always seemed to be true was the _knowing_ you could see in their eyes, that they were connected to something beyond themselves. 

"That's why they were trusted, why before the war they were negotiators, mediators, peacekeepers. They could find truth, a harmonious way to a solution, advocate for peace... and they did that even during the war, when they could. They served life, and justice, and had such... incredibly profound compassion. They made mistakes -- some of them terrible ones -- and the war broke something in every one of them, I think. But they didn't give up on defending as many as they could, ever." 

"Then how can you get someone like Vader? Out of someone Ben taught?" Luke asked, uncertain how such a thing could be. "What is the Dark Side, that it can 'seduce' a Jedi who is like that into being a mass-murdering terror?"

Oh, Force, why did this boy have such kriffing clear sight?! 

And what in the hell had Kenobi been thinking, to tell him that Vader had killed his father, rather than the truth? Weren't the Jedi supposed to be honest? He was fairly sure that was somewhere in the Code that had burned with the Temple. He swallowed, shaking his head. 

"I can't explain Vader," Rex replied, "but the Dark Side... that I can say some about. It's... either fueled, or made up of... selfish fear, unwarranted arrogance, unjustified hatred. Aggression for your own sake, rage because you feel slighted, greed and avarice, jealousy, uncontrolled passions -- those are, or are the path to, the Dark Side. And once the Dark has a grip... it seems to be addictive. Dark Side users, Sith adepts -- they have terrible powers. Force Lightning, mental manipulation, no, kriff 'manipulation', outright control," Rex amended with a low growl, then went on, "an obscene strength, a twisted kind of telekinesis... other things." 

"Huh." Luke filed all of that away, imprinting like a convor on the words. "I wish I had a teacher," Luke said wistfully. "Surely not all of them are dead? Ben seemed so certain, but he survived by hiding."

Rex shifted his eyes in remembered agony, before he made a thoughtful noise. "...Yoda might still be alive even now -- somewhere -- but Ahsoka didn't know where he'd disappeared to, even after he contacted her. Kanan's gone out to Wild Space, trying to save Ezra from himself. There was a rumor years ago that Master Ti was alive somewhere on Felucia, but then we heard she'd been found and killed. That karking asshole, Vos, might have survived a while, but he'd have found General Kenobi, I'd have thought..." 

Luke sighed, but there was a little hope in there. He'd research the names 'Yoda' and 'Vos' and see if it led anywhere. "You sound so sad on 'Ahsoka'. What happened to your commander?"

Rex swallowed hard. "She and Kanan and Ezra went to this old Sith planet, trying to find something. ...Vader found _them_. She protected them, and got trapped in the Temple with Vader. She was good enough to take him, I _know_ she was, but... 

"He's still walking the galaxy." 

Luke wrapped his hands around Rex's wrists, holding on tight. "I'm sorry. Someday… someday, he's got to pay. Maybe it will be me. Maybe someone else. But he will." The idea of someone being good enough to take Vader in a fight, though, that stirred hope in him. If he could just figure out how to become a fighter like that, how many lives could he save?

"Some day," Rex agreed quietly. "Some day. For all of his victims. ...Luke, what did General Kenobi tell you about Vader?" 

Maybe if he knew what had been said, he could start untangling it. 

"He said Vader murdered my father. That Vader had been his pupil, seduced to the Dark Side," Luke told him helpfully.

Well that was as kriffing clear as mud. Rex half-nodded, half-sighed, even as he wondered again what his other General had been thinking. Damn everything, but he needed to get Artoo unlocked. If anyone still alive would know anything about what had happened, _how_ it had happened, it would be Artoo. "I guess I can't argue with that. I wasn't with my General --" //wasn't where I should have been!// " -- when it all ended." 

"Do you want to stop for a little while?" Luke asked him, worried about all these emotions he kept feeling well up in the older man.

"...might not be a terrible idea. So tell me a little bit about you, how you grew up?" 

"Not much to tell. My family moisture farms. Been helping since I could reach the vaporator controls," Luke said. "Tinkering on anything I could, making it work better. Trying to get out of that life, at least the last two seasons. Biggs… he made it out. Last visit, he told me he ditched the Academy for the Rebels." Luke looked down, trying to swallow past the pain in his chest. "He was shot down, in the trench, protecting me, buying me time for the shot."

"...damn, I'm sorry, kid," Rex answered, the very fact that this 'Biggs' had straight-up admitted to what amounted to treason telling him how strong the bond between the two of them must have been. "The first friend you lose... that's the hardest, even though it never gets easier. It shouldn't, though." 

"No, it shouldn't."Luke sat a little taller, straighter. "I'd give anything to keep any of them alive," he admitted. "Any risk I take that spares them, so worth it."

"Yeah," Rex said softly, "you're all Skywalker. Not that the Senator was any less determined... just had a different arena."

"Thank you?" Luke said, hoping that was a compliment.

"You're welcome, kid," Rex told him, "don't forget why we loved our General." 

"I won't." Luke smiled at him. 

"Good," Rex replied, and settled back. 

+++ 

The stories had turned more and more on things Anakin had done, the memories that didn't hurt so much. Telling those, it was even a little easier to say _her_ name, and not feel the tooth under his shirt cutting on his skin so much.

Divorcing Anakin Skywalker from the monster was sometimes too easy, once Rex fell into talking, because his brain still couldn't wrap around _how_ his General ever could have done that.

He'd just started to mention the Balmorra run when the door to the room they were in opened and Rex saw the Senator enter.

Except, it couldn't be, and he had to blink hard to clear his eyes. It looked so much like the Senator, dressed sensible and ready for a fight, blaster on the thigh, hair contained in ornate braids, fierce determination tempered by caring compassion… 

… Could there be two children? Was that even possible?

"There you are, Luke… oh, I'm sorry." Leia's gaze raked over Rex's, trying to appraise him as a threat, to place where she knew him from, and he had the distinct impression she would kill him and space the body for the boy's sake.

"It's okay," Luke answered, straightening up some more to reach for her hand, smiling at her, "sorry, was I supposed to be somewhere? This is Rex -- he knew my father!" 

"Ma'am," Rex said, careful of which gendered title he used, as he tried, again, to shake off the impression that a ghost had just walked into the room with them. There were differences, now that she was within a half-meter, a slightly different shape to her eyes, slightly different cheekbones, the impression of a dimple in her cheek... but she still looked so much like the Senator. 

A handmaiden's daughter? No... he didn't think so. It was just a hunch, but he really didn't think so, even though the idea of multiple children -- but not a batch, and one of either sex? -- confused him, too. 

"You must be a veteran then," Leia said, only slightly relaxing from her protectiveness over Luke. She gave him a slight nod, then focused on Luke. "No, we just hadn't seen you since you got back in. Han and Chewie were discussing how to fix that thruster issue, so Han asked if I knew where you were."

She moved closer to Luke, subtly interfering with Rex's line of sight… in such a way that if he had been a threat, he'd have to go through her to get to the boy.

"Aww, I wasn't even thinking about that; Han mentioned he liked my ideas," Luke said, a touch of shyness in his voice over that.

That move of hers, the deliberately protective shift of her weight... Rex had seen that before, and his eyes searched over her for the hold-out blaster he was already sure was there. He didn't find it, but that was no proof, Senator Amidala's had never been that obvious, either. Not until she needed it. 

"A few years of," Rex agreed with her words.

"If you're busy…" Leia said, letting her voice trail off, but the impression of 'please come' was still there, and Luke shifted in his seat.

"Rex, can we talk more, later?" Luke asked him. "I want to know so much more!"

"No problem, son," Rex answered, flashing him a smile. "Pretty sure you can find me anywhere." 

"Working on making sure of that!" Luke said, having listened to the advice of 'follow his feelings'. He stood and Leia shifted, so that they could walk together without it being… quite so obvious they were emotionally close. That was a posture Rex had seen before.

Once they were well clear, he thunked his forehead into his hand once, twice, and went to go ask Sparrow a couple of questions that were probably going to make them _both_ terribly uncomfortable. 

Sparrow was, at least, pretty easily found. They'd had a few injuries lately, and he was one of the rare organic beings with actual medical experience, something that kept him assigned to Command. Too many of the cells had to rely strictly on med-droids, and while that was normally fine, organic medics were capable of those intuitive leaps that sometimes meant the difference between life and death.

"Captain," Sparrow said, fighting to not come to attention. The rank wasn't Rex's in the current structure, but there wasn't a clone alive that could call him anything but, not if they were alone.

"Hey," Rex said, moving to squeeze his shoulder, helping to convince him to stand down. "For a few seconds, just a bit ago, I thought I saw a ghost, and it's given me a question I'm not sure anyone else would've even known to ask." 

"I'm all ears, sir," Sparrow said, settling back in his desk chair, indicating the other to Rex. "I see ghosts all the time… I find Corellian ale helps make them go away," he said, half teasing, half dead serious.

"I've noted that, too," Rex agreed, moving to sit down, trying to figure out how to put it. "Did you ever have the pleasure of reinforcing Senator Amidala on one of her jaunts to the Rim? Or was that just always our job?" 

"Never had the pleasure, sir. Heard she was one of those that saw us as people," Sparrow said, watching Rex. "Knocker said any hope we had under the Republic would have died with her; take that to mean he'd heard or seen her talk about rights."

"She was... and I wouldn't argue with Knocker's assessment," Rex replied. "Girl walked into where I was sitting with our _jetii_ , all white clothes and blaster and braids... thinking she has to be the princess? Carried herself like a queen, anyway. But she's almost a perfect match to the Senator. 

"Which sort of leads me to question one. Human women... can they carry more than one child? At a time, I mean." 

Sparrow reached for his data pad. He'd dealt with pregnancies, but couldn't recall anything like that. "Gimme a sec, sir." He brought up biological stats on the human species. His eyebrows rose steadily, before he looked at Rex in something like horror. "Apparently they _can_ have entire batches! That's rare, with increasing chances as the number decreases."

Rex looked at him in that same horror, shaking his head. "How can -- but --" 

He firmly decided that he just wasn't thinking about that. "But... say just two? You did say 'increasing chances'?" 

Sparrow tore his mind back to that question, because just how did that even… "Sorry, sir. Yes, twins are somewhat common, more so in certain variants than others."

"...huh," Rex said, shaking his head slightly at the idea that there was a specific word for two births at once. "This's probably against some medical regulation or another, but can you check our _jetii_ 's DNA against the Princess's?" 

Sparrow snorted. "Captain, please? I got to serve the GAR long enough to learn regs are suggestions." He flipped his datapad, adjusted something inside the cover, then turned it back to where he could tap out a query… and got a null response. "Huh."

Rex laughed in amusement at the first bit, flicking a two-fingered salute, but then cocked his head, curious at that tone. "What is it?" 

"Can't access the Princess's information. At all. Because it doesn't exist." Sparrow made a face. "I can probably acquire a sample; Quadro is a cook after all. But running it, when it is so obviously missing, might be a mission into _haran_ , sir."

Rex shook his head, making an old negating gesture. That her DNA didn't exist on file, when she'd been a Senator, a Coreworlder... that was almost proof in and of itself. "Then don't do it, it's not worth that. Not just for my suspicions. I'll find out another way, if I can." 

Which meant he really did have to go talk to Senator Mon Mothma. Well, that was all there was for it. 

"I'll let you know when I do," he said with a shrug as he pushed to his feet, reaching for his brother's shoulder one more time. 

Sparrow returned the gesture, squeezing hard. "Captain… thank you. Pretty sure this is rough on you, but… the kid, he's… he's something else, and he'll be safer for knowing you."

"He _is_ something else," Rex agreed, "and hell, _vod_ , what's new about things being hard? He's worth it, that's what's important." 

Sparrow smiled at that, then went back to reading the horror story that was human reproduction.

+++

Mon Mothma tried, very hard, to be accessible when she was in residence. It was a lesson she had taken to heart among her own people and from her mentor. 

Which at least meant that Rex didn't have to jump through hoops to see her. He paused in the open door, dipping his head slightly. "Ma'am? Have a moment?" 

Mon Mothma raised her head to see who was speaking to her, the voice telling her it was one of their Vod'e… but this one wore his facial hair different than she remembered, and she struggled to remember who he might be.

"Yes… you may," she said, uneasy at not being able to place him quickly.

He stepped in, moving close to her, but to where he couldn't reach her, seeing the unease. "My name, ma'am, is Rex.... Captain Rex, once. If that's what was bothering you." 

Rex?

Her eyes went wide as she saw one of the legends of the GAR in front of her. She'd seen his name on the list of cleared Vod'e, years back, but to meet him in person, with all the history there. She rose and stepped to where she could reach out for his hand.

"Captain Rex, it is an honor to meet you," she said, with sincerity and warmth in her voice and eyes. "What may I do for you?"

He took her hand, even as he shook his head a little. "Just a soldier, ma'am. Pleasure to meet you... but to cut straight to business, if there's any luck in the world you can help me unlock my General's astromech, so Artoo can help his son." 

Mon Mothma could not help but stare. "Surely the R2 unit has been memory-wiped, Captain," she said, even as she felt a small surge of hope. "You truly think that Viceroy Organa would not have taken precautions, given that the mech was a known combatant before the Fall of the Republic?"

"He remembers me," Rex answered that question, one corner of his mouth quirking just slightly. "He can't discuss anything -- and he's very upset about that -- but he still has his memories. Threepio doesn't, for which I'd rather like to deck someone. Not the point, though." 

Mon Mothma kept her opinions on the protocol droid to herself; of course he had been wiped. He'd been party to Amidala's innermost confidences.

"You believe I can help unlock R2-D2's memories? Granted, the droid is exceptionally resourceful and an asset to the entire Rebellion, but if what you are saying is correct… there is a chance he was witness to the very events that left us where we are, so yes, I will help. I just don't know how." She went to the comm on her desk, paging Skywalker's communicator after a moment of searching for the right frequency.

"Commander, will you please send your astromech to my office?" she requested once he acknowledged.

"What? Artoo?" 

Even from where he was standing, Rex could hear Luke's wary tone, the instant protectiveness, and it curved his lips in a smile Like father, like son. "I... yes, ma'am," he answered a moment later, his voice still a little unwilling. "He'll be there shortly."

Rex had been putting a datapad together the entire time the boy was gone, everything he could remember about the encryption process the General'd done on Artoo, the emergency failsafes, what codes he remembered for his part of dismantling it if need be... and his best guess, knowing his General the way he had, on what the codes for a Senator would have been. General Kenobi would have known for certain, but _he_ obviously wasn't an option. He passed it over, open, to the Senator. 

Mon Mothma accepted it, studying the information. "To think we might have had a link to those missing days all this time. General Skywalker was known to be on Coruscant up until the … until things went so wrong." She changed her wording to spare his feelings as much as she could.

Rex nodded once, appreciating her gentleness, her open sympathy -- even though it told him that she had no idea who the monster was behind that hideous mask. That was well enough. even though it wouldn't last much longer. "Everyone must have believed exactly what you did, that he was wiped along with Threepio," he said, trying to soothe her. "Yeah... I know." 

"At this late point, it may not provide us much to work from, but… Skywalker was known to be a preferred Jedi for that… monster. His mech might have heard or seen something." She moved to acquire glasses and water, pouring two, and handing one to Rex. "Captain, I knew you were part of our Forces, but your name has not been in my reports in a very long time. I believed you gone, with the team you were working with."

Rex took the water, took a drink, and quirked a much more sardonic smile at her. "Through most of the Rebellion, a being's name and past are their own business. I've used five or six, the last four years, after -- after the _Ghost_ left. My brothers got word to me about Luke, so I caught the next transport back to Command." 

"I see." She gave him a smile. "It would be quite personal for you to see to his safety, I imagine." She settled in a chair, appraising him. "Those are sergeant markings. Part of that using a different name? Because I know your war record, Captain, and you would be infinitely suited to be in Command itself."

Yeah, it was personal. He had to keep Luke safe, the way he hadn't kept his General. 

"On flimsi, maybe," Rex replied, "but I only ever led brothers. This Alliance? Now? Is a whole different thing." 

"I think you sell yourself short, but it is as you wish, Captain Rex," she said, accepting the limitations he placed. After all, if he stayed near Skywalker… he would invariably wind up close to where things happened anyway.

Artoo could be heard in the hallway, then, and she watched as the little droid rolled in with all of his confidence and personality on display… right to the Captain, bumping his leg in a show of affection.

"Hey, Artoo," Rex said, dropping his hand gently to his dome, fingers stroking for a moment. "Got a Senator recruited to trying to get you fixed, buddy.... shall we start trying it?" 

Artoo gave a long whistle of hope. He then rolled toward Mon Mothma, and the former Senator could have sworn the droid was expressing the same look as an infant lothcat seeking praise or food.

"Let us see what we can do for you, then," she said. Maybe, just maybe, she would learn what had led to her mentor's death, finally!

+++ 

Rex waited for Artoo to come out of the second hard reboot, well aware that his pulse was too kriffing high... but what if they'd hurt him, trying to fix it? Luke would never forgive him, much as he wouldn't forgive himself. 

Artoo blinked his sensor lights to show he was back online, and swiveled his head to look between the the pair of humans. 

[I can tell things again,] he beeped, as Mon Mothma looked at her datapad translation. 

"R2-D2, I am hoping you have historic information that would maybe shed light on the events just before the Republic fell. Were you with Skywalker through those final days on Coruscant?" she asked.

Rex flinched as Artoo swayed, making a high, untranslatable noise... and then blinked as the astromech shot back behind his legs. 

"I will take that as a yes," Mon Mothma said sadly, before coming around and kneeling on the floor, to be at the droid's level, practicing compassion in a form few humans managed. "Artoo? That is what Luke calls you, yes? You may have observed weaknesses we could exploit, to bring things back to a better point."

[Don't know you,] Artoo replied, even as he rolled forward a little, appreciating that she would come down to talk to him. [Will help -- Senator would want it! -- but will talk to our Captain, our Rex, first. Then you.]

Rex twisted around, staring down at Artoo in surprise... and with his heart twisting. It was worse than he thought, if Artoo was being this cagey. 

Mon Mothma smiled at the droid. "Of course, Artoo. I will let the Captain handle your memories, as he seems to have your interests at heart." She stood after brushing two fingers lightly along his side, going back to her desk. "And, Artoo? Please refrain from being shot at so much, while you work on helping us?"

It was a quiet dismissal, to let them go work through this, even as she ached to know what he knew. Had Skywalker been there when Amidala was attacked? Had the astromech seen? Did R2-D2 know anything that might help cut open the Emperor's grasp on power?

[Better me than pilot's son,] Artoo replied, looking up at her. [I am easier to fix.]

"Thank you, Senator," Rex said, moving just enough to shake her hand once more before he snorted at Artoo's opinions. "Oh, stuff that, you. Come on, let's go talk... Senator, if you'd let Luke know Artoo asked for me?" 

Artoo made a rude noise at Rex, but rolled along with him, leaving Mon to consider the past, yet again, but with a new light of hope.

+++

Artoo's memories had been riding high ever since he found Luke on Tatooine. However, without authority to discuss them, he had merely grown more and more frustrated. Now, having the locks off, and Rex, who knew all the important people, to speak to, he considered what most needed to be said.

Rex found an empty compartment, one that had loose cushions he could dump onto the floor, and locked it up before he did sit down on two of them. His knees weren't so up to crouching for that long anymore, and he wanted to be at Artoo's level... and besides that, where he could hold on to him when it was needed. 

Artoo rolled close, and gave a very low whistle of complaint at their lives. [Pilot. He was hurt. Wrong in processor. All bad things start after he saw my Senator, after he landed the piece of the ship.]

Rex lifted a hand to him, laying his fingers along his dome lightly. "It's okay, Artoo. I know who's inside that suit -- you don't need to be careful about that. I just... what I don't know is _how_. Hurt, wrong in the head, huh?" 

'Landed the piece of the ship'... that he'd poke at later, it wasn't the important part. 

Artoo let out a mournful dirge of noises at Rex about the man in the suit. He then got himself back together and continued. It wouldn't do to be as emotional and overreacting as Threepio!

[Senator… pilot's wife!] and Artoo glared at Rex, defying him to say anything, because Artoo had found the secrecy illogical. [She told him about a baby. Then pilot had the bad dream. Could hear him. Stupid Council told him to report about Chancellor. Chancellor told him to report about stupid Council.

[Bad dream, spying? Other Jedi left, things go very bad. Back and forth between Chancellor and stupid Council. Then… Temple burning, visit Senator. Pilot goes to Mustafar, ends war. Senator comes there.] Artoo's recitation of everything stopped, abruptly right there, not wanting to tell the next part.

So he projected it, the horrible memory of Pilot choking his Senator, of the Jedi starting a fight… and only the Jedi coming back.

[Go to Polis Massa. Senator has babies, names both. Med droid said no reason for Senator to fail… but she stops working,] Artoo wailed plaintively at Rex. [Babies divided to hide them. Stupidest Jedi goes one way. Senator takes girl. Other Jedi takes boy. Senator puts Threepio and me on his ship… Threepio was wiped.] 

Rex had sat patiently through being glared at, his hand not on Artoo slowly curling into a tighter and tighter fist. He had wanted to interrupt, but waited instead, just to let Artoo get it all out. The astromech had been waiting nearly twenty years for someone to listen, after all. 

He'd tell Artoo about Ahsoka later. 

Asking **his** General to betray a friend, betray all of that unending loyalty he'd had for the man that had championed him? Had the _jetii_ intended to make him finally break, shatter and turn?! It sounded like it from here! 

'Goes to Mustafar, ends war'. Those simple words sent something terribly cold down his spine. What had his General done, that Artoo was so sure his actions had been what caused that final, complete shutdown of the droids? 

Then Artoo had played that section of his memory, the attack, and the cold turned to violent nausea, pain, and rage. For his General to have _ever_ used that power, for him to use it on his _unarmed wife_ \-- what had that _thing_ now calling itself the Emperor **done** to him?! 

No reason for her to fail. No reason... something flickered in the back of his mind at that. "Last things first... I'm sorry about Threepio, Artoo. Those babies -- one, obviously is Luke. The other... really _is_ the princess, isn't she? She looks so much like Senator Amidala that it gave me a start, earlier." 

Artoo whistled affirmatively. [Is daughter. Senator father took baby girl. Handmaiden came. Saw her with Princess, on ship, few times.]

"How much has it been overheating your processor, not being able to tell them?" Rex asked, brushing his fingers on Artoo's dome again, lightly. Which one of the handmaidens had it been? Sabé, Rabé? Did it matter? 

[Humans and strange customs. Worry it will harm them both.] Artoo pushed slightly into that touch. [Saw Snips-not-Snips sometimes, on ship. Then no more.] He carefully pushed close. [Missed her.] He tried to convey empathy toward Rex for his loss.

Yeah, that was his concern, too. He had no problem in the galaxy with _vod'e_ sleeping with each other, and they were even batchmates, but... some cultures got in such snits about it. 

"I miss her, too," Rex said, his free hand lifting to the collar of his shirt and dipping in, fishing out the akul-tooth on its chain. "She -- faced Vader, one more time, and... she never came back. I went to search for her, when I could, but found nothing. I don't know..." 

Artoo flipped his manipulator arm out to lightly, reverently, touch the tooth. [Nothing? Bad. Other Force users, vanish, become Inquisitors,] he pointed out.

Rex hissed at that thought, shaking his head. Not his Ahsoka, not his Commander... but there had been a time he would have thought that of his General, too. And she'd sometimes come awake in such pain... "It'd be hard to hide her montrals, though," he said, trying to convince himself or Artoo or both, he wasn't sure. "And there haven't been any of those seen in at least a year..." 

[Better far away than that,] Artoo beeped sadly. [Pilot was trying to kill his son, at the Death Star. Was in the TIE that Solo knocked into deep space. I know it. Still flies like Pilot.]

Rex nodded, then shook his head, nausea rising up again. The idea that even that monster would try to kill his own _ad_... "Could he have known? -- never mind, _Force things_ , you and I have no idea about that."

He would know soon, if he didn't already. Word of a Skywalker in the Rebellion would travel despite all attempts at secrecy, because some people just couldn't keep their mouths shut. And when that happened... 

He couldn't predict it, actually. He knew his General, not Vader. But he had this suspicion it wouldn't be good. 

[Pilot's son needs teacher. No more Jedi. How to fix?] Artoo asked.

"I've got what I remember of him and Ahsoka having lessons, you've probably got some of that, too," Rex replied, "and you've got video, too. 

"You said 'stupidest Jedi', and I know you have to have meant Master Yoda -- you weren't that... opinionated... about him the last time I saw you. What changed? Or, rather, what did he do to our General?"

Artoo brightened, because he had recorded training sessions and fights. They might help. Then there was the question, and he had to razz at the memory. [Pilot went to Temple. Asking help, because of Force Dream. Stupidest Jedi told him to let go. To be happy for those who walked far away.] He added another rude noise at the end.

"Oh for the love of all the stars!" Rex swore, wishing he could get a certain diminutive Jedi within reach of one of his feet to kick a few times. "The Force Dream... what was it about, Artoo? Did he tell you?" 

Artoo's whole body tipped downwards, showing his grief. [Senator, baby, dying. Pilot couldn't let that happen.]

"...no... no, he wouldn't," Rex murmured, shaking his head. "But... Artoo, can you play that bit with them talking, before Kenobi was a complete idiot, again? Just that bit." 

Artoo moved to project it for Rex, playing it at as high a resolution as he could. He didn't even snicker at the idiot comment; he was still sulking about being locked and Kenobi not fixing it.

...he didn't know that man, standing there tall and arrogant and cold... until... ' I won't lose you the way I lost my mother! I've become more powerful than any Jedi has ever dreamed of -- and I've done it for you. To protect you!' whispered through the room, and his heart stopped. 

He'd thought she was in danger, mortal danger -- and Rex knew what his General would do, for the Senator in any danger. Denied by the Jedi, told to embrace her death, the death of their child, frightened and... offered a way to save her... His General would do anything, even sell himself to the Dark Side, for her, if pushed the right way. 

Kriff, he wanted to be sick. There was madness in Vader's face, his voice, but that 'I can overthrow him... we can make things the way we want them to be...' 

Then why, _why_ did he still kneel at that monster's feet? 

"Kriffing _haran_ , Artoo..." 

[Yes. All bad. Must protect children now. Teach them. Help them do what my Senator would want.] Artoo pushed into Rex's hand. [Better now. Can talk. Have you here. Will complete mission.]

"Set yourself one, did you?" Rex asked, half-amused and entirely touched that having him present mattered so much to the vibrant little astromech. "It's a good one. You said... you said there was no reason for her to die -- the droid checked her throat? You said she named the babies, she was still breathing good and strong, then..." 

Artoo played back the last words he had strained to hear, naming the children, speaking of Anakin, so that Rex could witness his Senator's final moments as well.

He wasn't sure if he had any belief that she was right, not after everything that had happened, even if she had been right then... but hearing her faith twisted the misery in his chest tighter. What had happened, to kill her, with General Kenobi right there, and her body fine? 

He didn't understand that, might never. "We can't let Luke keep believing what Kenobi told him," he said finally, "not with how rage and vengeance can poison a Jedi. Now that I know at least part of what happened... I think I can... be gentle, about breaking the truth to him." 

[Good. Vader killed Kenobi. Pilot's son saw.] Artoo wanted him to have that warning. [Hurt Pilot's son.]

"Luke told me," Rex agreed softly, his fingers brushing on Artoo's dome again. "And I could see how much it hurt. He wears everything he feels right there on his face..." 

Just like their General. 

Artoo warbled agreement with that. [Does.]

The droid was content; Rex knew and Rex would fix it all.

+++

Luke looked down at Artoo first, then up at Rex's face as the pair came to find him in the pilots' wing. Wedge and Wes both moved on, picking up on the very serious vibe coming off the ground-pounder.

"Missed you, Artoo," Luke said first. "You okay?"

[Better, yes. Must talk. Listen to Captain.]

"Okay… Rex?"

Rex took a seat close to him, facing him, his eyes focused on his General's son. "You remember when we first met, Artoo had a bit of a fit at me?" 

"Yeah." Luke kept a hand on Artoo when his droid settled close by. "Is this about Mon Mothma calling him to her office?" he asked with worry for his astromech's safety.

"Yes," Rex agreed, "it is. He told me he remembered everything, but he couldn't _tell_ anything. Pretty sure he could only manage what he did with me because he wasn't revealing anything, and he could use our old code to do it. Right, old friend?" 

[Roger. Roger,] Artoo replied, tinging it with biting sarcasm.

"Oh funny," Rex said, making a face. "And I do it better than that."

Luke looked interested in the story there, but then Rex was focusing on the reason he was here, and Luke felt it was going to be rough. "So now… he can?"

"Yeah," Rex agreed. "A Senator and a Jedi locked him down, but between what I remembered and that Mon Mothma was actually a Republic Senator, we managed to get it fixed. Artoo remembers everything... including what really happened to your father. And your mother." 

"Artoo, really?" Luke asked, stunned but full of hope.

[It is bad, and he should tell it, now I told him. He might understand better than me,] Artoo told Luke. [Listen to my Captain.]

"You don't give yourself enough credit," Rex told him, "and besides, you can help show him all of Snips' lessons, remember? 

"...and I'm dodging having to talk about it," he said drily, his mouth twisting a little. "There's -- really no easy or good way to say this," he said, looking apologetically at Luke. "But General Kenobi lied to you." 

"What?" Luke's entire demeanor went… hard and suspicious, jaw firming, and Artoo bumped him hard.

[Listen!] the droid demanded.

That look was one he'd seen on his General's face a thousand times, and he hated seeing it now. "The Emperor and Darth Vader destroyed my General, Anakin Skywalker... but not in any way as clean as killing him. I'm _so sorry_ , Luke." 

Luke looked down at Artoo, then back up, and fell back in on himself. "What's one more version of the truth? Tell me, Rex."

"I will," Rex agreed, "and I'll give you the best version of events, and what I think of them, that I can. 

"My General left our legion because word came from Coruscant that the Separatists had hit the capital itself, that they'd infiltrated the Senate and kidnapped the Chancellor," he did not turn his head and spit, only because they were shipboard, "to hold as a hostage. So of course, the Order sent for Kenobi-and-Skywalker. Artoo doesn't know most of what happened aboard that ship, but the Generals managed to get the Chancellor back and get onto the ground. Wish they kriffing hadn't, at least him," he muttered. "Artoo, you said something about landing a 'piece' of a ship?"

Artoo obligingly showed the smoking wreckage on the field, with some ships in range to give scale on the portion of the ship that had been landed.

"That's… they landed that? From orbit? of the Capital?" Luke demanded, stunned as he saw an impossible feat in that claim.

Artoo chirped firm agreement. [My Pilot. Best Pilot, then.] 

"So he says, and I believe it," Rex replied, eying the portion of the droid flagship with a shudder. "Had to have been nasty, even for the General. The Senator managed to get herself to the General not long after that, and had the chance to tell him she was pregnant. Which has to have near panicked him, given the secrecy they had to live under. A baby..." he shrugged slightly. 

"Why? Why secrecy?"

[Stupid Jedi Code. Stupid human ideas. Stupid, all of it,] Artoo said in no uncertain terms. [Jedi don't Attach. Politicians supposed to marry in their own class. Wrongness, all of it.] Artoo had heard, over and again, the railing at the facts of their lives. He had tried to understand it, 'helped' by Threepio and the handmaidens gossiping.

"Full points to Artoo," Rex agreed, shaking his head slightly. "The Jedi were supposed to keep from personal attachments. They were always to be compassionate, generous, caring... but never _personally_ bonded. The Code, the Council, saw it as a threat to their ability to serve the whole -- as if every damned one of them that was worth **anything** didn't bond to their units just as much as our General did to us! But no, _he_ was always the one that was wrong about it!" He snarled, low in his throat, and shook his head. 

"Sorry. My Commander, the other training she found in the Light Side, had no truck with that _poodoo_. But it was the way for the Order, and if it'd been _known_ he was in love with her, married to her... they'd have probably expelled him from the Order, reassigned us to some other General --" the horror of the one time that had happened for any length of time rolled over him again, and he sank his fingertips into the space between muscles just above his elbows. "So they kept everything hidden." 

Luke's jaw hardened. "Then, when I find the other potential Jedi, I'm just going to leave that part out. Because I will find a way to be a Jedi like my father… and only take that which is good to others."

Artoo did a little dance of pride at that for him.

" _Good,_ " Rex breathed, nodding. That was a slightly better version of the Skywalker Look, one that meant good things if hard ones. "We met a splinter-group of Jedi, once, that had done that. They didn't officially belong anymore, some of the Council called 'em heretics, but they were good people. 

"I told you once that your father could see the future, right?" Luke half-nodded, and Rex went on. "Artoo says he started having visions that night. Visions of his wife's death along with their child."

Luke's breath caught in his throat. "That… I don't think I ever want those. Hard enough to run risks with my friends as it is, but to have something telling you they will die? No."

"Won't argue with that," Rex agreed, nodding. "He didn't have them about us often, but when he did... it was bad. And they always came true, or we saw how they would've. I don't want to think about what it must have cost him to go to the Temple to ask for advice, for help -- especially after the kriffing Council had asked him to spy on the Chancellor! -- but he did." 

[Stupid Jedi. Stupid Council. Stupid about my Pilot. Stupid.] Artoo was emphatic, and Luke had to snort, even as he grew concerned. 

"So he went for advice… and then?" Luke asked.

"That idiot millennia-old _troll_ apparently told him to rejoice for those who rejoined the Force," Rex growled, one hand flexing, "as though there's anything but the kriffing _Dark_ in the death of a perfectly healthy young woman and an infant!" 

Said troll was very, very lucky he wasn't in front of him right now, because the more Rex thought about that, the more enraged he got. 

[Stupidest Jedi,] Artoo agreed. 

"What's the point in seeing the future if you don't try and change it?!" Luke demanded. "It's a warning! Or the Force wouldn't show it, surely!"

"...I don't know," Rex replied, shaking his head, "I just don't. I'm inclined to your way of thinking, certainly. But Yoda should have _known_ better. If I hadn't met the being as often as I did, I'd swear he was _trying_ to make your father Fall! Because that was absolutely the worst thing he could have done." 

"...Fall?"

Luke's voice was small, and Rex could see as he made lightning fast connections. "No…"

Rex stretched out his hands, wrapping them lightly around both of the boy's mid-forearms, and watched those bright eyes cloud with agony. Agony he entirely too well understood, had felt for far too long. "...that wasn't how I meant to say that," he said quietly. "And I _know_ that damned Sith did something to make my General susceptible to him, more than the situation already was." 

Because his General, in his right mind, even terrified for his lady and their child, would have struck to destroy Fives' killer when their _vod_ was proven right. 

"Vader?" Luke looked at Rex with those lost eyes, as he struggled to wrap his head around it. "But he's a monster, nothing at all like the stories you have told me, stories from the others."

[Pilot broken in his processor, his heart,] Artoo said. [Not safe, but not him in his head.]

"Vader," Rex agreed, hating it, shifting to wrap an arm around the boy, rather than just hold on to his forearms, and tipped his jaw at Artoo. "And no. That's _not_ my General behind that mask, in that suit. It's whatever the Emperor did to him -- was able to do to him because my General trusted him so much. 

"I can believe he would have accepted the Dark -- hate it, but believe it -- if he thought it was the only chance to save your mother, save you -- but not _this_. And what he said to your mother, that Artoo saw... he meant to kill the Emperor as soon as she was safe, not continue to serve him."

"But he does… because she died?" Luke was confused by that. "I'd want to kill him more for failing to protect her," he said honestly.

[Broken. Very broken.]

"So would I," Rex agreed, nodding at the boy's honesty and the plain truth in the words. "And that's what I would have thought of my General, too. So... there's something else going on. Something I _don't_ understand -- unless...." 

Something tugged at his attention again, combination of memories and intuition... "Bloody kriffing _haran_! That damned Sith filth... he convinced Vader that their confrontation killed her, when she came through it just fine!" 

"Huh?" warred with indignant beeping from Artoo, as he followed the logic and found it completely sound.

[Pilot learns about son… will that change pilot?] Artoo asked.

"I don't know, Artoo... facing Ahsoka didn't stop him... but then, she wasn't there when he _needed_ her, a Sith would hate her for that. His son, knowing his child lived... maybe? I can't imagine what's in his mind, not now. 

"But that's the piece we were all missing, isn't it, Artoo? The Emperor killed the Senator, but Vader believes it's his fault. Everything he ever wanted dead at his hand, nothing left but the man he looked up to... I'm going to _shoot_ him, but I almost understand it." 

[Shoot the Emperor instead. By sniper. Several times.] That was Artoo's opinion on that. [Want to save Pilot. Know Pilot will hate what he did, if processor reboots. Makes me sad.]

Luke petted his hand over the dome, considering that. His head was already wrapping around the bones of a plan, to draw Vader down on himself and try to reach the man in those stories, the one the armor had locked away.

"Don't I _wish_ ," Rex replied to the commentary about the Emperor. "And... yeah, if we could get our General back... He'd hate all of this, so much.

"Luke, you didn't follow my leap, because I didn't get to tell you the rest of it. Vader went to destroy the Separatist leadership. Somehow, your mother and General Kenobi followed him. She tried to reason with him... but he was too maddened, and when Kenobi was an idiot, he -- 

" -- he raised a hand to the woman he worshipped. To the mother of his _child_. She was injured. But Artoo says he and Threepio got her aboard the ship before Kenobi returned, and she recovered, mostly. Until the birth, when the medical droid could find no cause for that her body was shutting down."

Luke stared at them, then Artoo very carefully played the sound bite, just Padmé's voice.

_"There's still good in him."_

[My Senator believed. But so long ago.]

Rex freed a hand and reached for Artoo again, sighing. "A long time, and a lot of atrocities, ago," he agreed quietly. 

"Right. There's that one last thing to tell you, Luke. I wanted to get through this first. But you... weren't born alone. What neither the Senator nor my General knew was that she was carrying twins." 

"Twins?" Luke blinked, letting go of his half-thought plans to find Vader. "But I grew up alone."

[Stupidest Jedi made you and twin separate, let Senator take one, Jedi take other.] Artoo made a razzing noise. [Sand. Everywhere. For you. Politics for Senator's daughter.]

"Leia?!" Luke demanded, half a yelp as his cheeks reddened almost immediately. "No, no no …. neither of you can tell her about Anakin being Vader. **Ever!** " he quickly said, as he let that knowledge settle, pushing embarrassment aside to protect Leia.

"That's easy," Rex agreed. "He's _not_. But... you mean because of Alderaan. I understand that. 

"Tatooine's one of the planets with a sibling-taboo?" he asked, mildly interested. 

Luke looked down, then back up. "There are places that don't?" he asked, honestly curious. 

"Plenty," Rex replied, amused at the flush still on Luke's cheeks. "I never really cared much, but some of the brothers used to find it entertaining to see who freaked out at our relationships and who thought it was exactly the way things should be." 

"Huh." Luke filed that away, even as he realized that the ones he knew did seem to be paired… or more… off to one another. "It's not like there's really much there. I just…. and she… but there's Han…"

Artoo gave a suspiciously chuckle-like set of beeps at Luke's stammering.

Rex shrugged slightly, and reached up to ruffle the boy's hair for a moment. "That, you'll have to figure out on your own -- it took a while for my Commander to knock me over the head with that she was all grown up and knew exactly what we both wanted. Never was any good with women. Or most brothers, even. Definitely not trying to give you advice on a Senator, even one that's your batchmate." 

Luke grinned, shyly. "Biggs handled the details, mostly," he admitted. "But yeah, I'll talk to her… and then we'll figure it all out."


End file.
